Badgers run out of time

September 06, 2013 10:57 pm

NORTH POWDER — One half of football wasn't enough for the Powder Valley to beat the Buckaroos in the season opener.

The Badgers trailed 42-12 after the first half. Nearly everything that could go wrong did, ending in a 54-48 loss. Starting receivers Tyler Robinson and Jake Grammon went down with injuries. Powder Valley was already shorthanded with Brock Jones sidelined with a hip flexor injury.

"It took us a little while to get going," Badgers head coach Dan Townsend said. "St. Paul is a good team and you can't give them anything, certainly not as much as we did in the first half.

"We had to play more young guys than we expected due to injuries. I was proud of the way that everyone bounced back. They didn't take the easy way and give up on the game."

Powder Valley and St. Paul traded touchdowns in the third quarter.

The Badgers went to the air to reach the end zone. Senior Chace Dixon connected on one of his six touchdown passes to Quin Stephens to open the scoring, cutting the lead to 42-20.

"Chace did a great job making adjustments," Townsend said. "It took a little while fpr him to find his rhythm. It didn't help that receivers kept going down. But he led the team the way a quarterback is supposed to."

St. Paul took a 54-26 lead headed into the fourth quarter of play following a 75-yard touchdown run by Tyler Smith.

Dixon hooked up with his freshman brother Seth in the fourth quarter. It's a connection that fans can look forward to a lot this season.

"It was kind of strange," Chace Dixon said. "We've played catch before, but this was a totally different experience. He did really well out there today. You never know how that first game is going to go for a freshman. I'm pretty excited to see what we can do the rest of the season."

Next, sophomore Sean Stanford made a highlight-reel catch for a 70-yard touchdown to trim the lead to 14 points, 54-40.

Powder Valley recovered the onside kick, and quickly went back to the air with less than a minute left in the game.

The Dixon to Dixon combination worked again. A touch pass to the back pylon made the score 54-48, but just two seconds remained in the clock. The Badgers recovered the onside kick again, but there was no time left on the clock.

"I just wish we could have been ready to go from the start of the game," Townsend said. "St. Paul had the luxury of playing a game last week, and I think that helps a lot. All we can do is learn from the game and get better. We'll be more ready next week."